Why is a safe and healthy workplace not a fundamental
International Labour Standard?
In May 1995, following
the ILO's 75th Anniversary and the discussions in the World
Summit on Social Development, a campaign for the ratification
of eight fundamental Conventions was launched by the
Director-General of the ILO.
C155, the Occupational
Safety and Health Convention, 1981 (No. 155) was not one
of them. The nine
principles of the UN Global Compact are also silent on
occupational health and safety.
The ILO Webpage on
International Standards on Safety and Health (http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/norm/whatare/stndards/osh.htm)
notes:
One
of the main concerns of the ILO is to protect workers against
occupational illness and injury.
This concerns the broader subject of a safe and healthy
working environment embodied in nearly sixty ILO standards --
the highest number in any single field.
Yet no occupational health and safety Conventions are
seen as fundamental.
The eight fundamental
Conventions are:
Eight ILO Conventions
have been identified by the ILO's Governing Body as being
fundamental to the rights of human beings at work,
irrespective of levels of development of individual member
States. These
rights are a precondition for all the others in that they
provide for the necessary implements to strive freely for the
improvement of individual and collective conditions of work
Freedom of association
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize
Convention, 1948 (No. 87) (142 countries have ratified)
Right to Organize and
Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98) (154 countries
have ratified)
The abolition of
forced labour Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) (163
countries have ratified)
Abolition of Forced
Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) (161 countries have ratified)
Equality
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention, 1958 (No.
111) (159 countries have ratified)
Equal Remuneration
Convention, 1951 (No. 100) (161 countries have ratified)
The elimination of
child labour Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) (132
countries have ratified)
Worst Forms of Child
Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) (147 countries have ratified)
132 ratifications is
the lowest number of ratifications of the fundamental
Conventions. A
mere 41 countries have ratified C155! Go to http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newratframeE.htm
to find out if your government has ratified C155.
If we look to the UN
Global Compact occupational health and safety again is
overlooked.
The Global Compact has
nine principles in the areas of human rights, labour and the
environment enjoy universal consensus being derived from:
The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The
International Labour Organization's Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work
The
Rio Declaration on Environment and Development
The nine principles
are:
Human Rights
Businesses should
Principle 1: support and respect the protection of internationally
proclaimed human rights within their sphere of influence;
and
Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Labour Standards
Principle 3: uphold the freedom of association and the effective
recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labour;
Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour;
and
Principle 6: eliminate discrimination in respect of employment and
occupation.
Environment
Principle 7: support a precautionary approach to environmental challenges;
Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental
responsibility; and
Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally
friendly technologies
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